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Hello peeps, I know that I have been very quiet lately and my last build of the old Airfix Gazelle was interrupted somewhat with personal family issues. The rest of this year has not got much better, but I have finally managed to get some time onto the workbench. I have decided to go back to the 70's and try another Classic, one which I did not buy as a kid as the artwork didn't inspire me as much as say the Mosquito. That said, it is well detailed for its time and the sprues are remarkably free from flash which is a bonus. There are less than 60 parts but I have plans to see about increasing this number using spares and plastic sheet. How hard can it be?

Hello again. After taking a few days off for the Holidays, here we go again! After completing the XP-80 last year, I determined that I needed a P-80A to round out the collection. So, I picked up a Sword P-80 A/B kit like so: A relatively new tool kit, optional parts for A vs B model -- good to go, right? Not so fast. While researching the build, once again, the Spectre of Tommy Thomason's Tailhook Topics blog reaches out to crush simplicity. See the link HERE In it is various quite useful information, along with one single "Dag Nab It!"; the cockpit for the A model is in the same location as on the XP-80, which means that the windscreen (not the whole cockpit) needs to be moved back around 1/8 inch, and the canopy needs shortening by a scale 6 - 7 inched, or a tad less than 1/8 inch. There goes the easy day, so let's get on with it. Below, the red lines indicate where the cuts need ti be made in each fuselage half: Above right, the cackpit wall is moved aft and glued onto the fuselage side in it's new position. It seemed a lot more simple to shorten here, since all the parts fit well. The mods being done on the fuse, the next step is to paint all needed interior parts with Interior Green (FS 34151), and add around 3 grams lead weight to the nose. The nose gear well fit to the fuselage is really poor, so a LOT of sanding and test fitting is required here: Above right, the intakes are fitted before the fuselage is closed up. The drill here is to try and get the best seam possible at the leading edge of the splitter plate (shiny white spot). Additional sanding will be needed at the rear as well as the splitter plate, which I will show later on. Meanwhile, the cockpit is painted. Fortunately the cockpit can be inserted from the bottom, after the fuselage halves are assembled, which makes life much easier: Above right, note that the cockpit has not yet been inserted. The gap in front of the windscreen is filled with scrap plastic sheet, which is much easier to manage than filler, and also adds strength to the structure. I use Weld-ON #3 for the construction. User's of other types of glue may have their mileage vary. While this dries, I'll step away and ponder steps to follow. Be well, Ed,